breaker,” he mumbled into my hair as he shifted me to one side and led me toward a shiny red and black helicopter.
The pilot was already sitting at the controls. I swallowed audibly because it hadn’t looked much bigger than a minivan, and the thought of going up in the air in that thing had made me nervous all over again.
“How the other half live,” I remarked, once we were up in the air. The pilot pointed out the Manhattan skyline.
“You’ve showed me yours, now I’m showing you mine,” Jamie told me in a suggestive tone and waggled his brows at me. He chuckled when my head snapped around, and I stared at him wide eyed when I considered the pilot was sat next to him. “Get your head out of my pants, girl, I meant my home city. Impressive, isn't it?”
Hearing his voice through the communications headset mic, I nodded, and he bobbed his head toward the window for me to look again at the sights.
I pinched myself more than once to convince myself someone on the plane hadn’t spiked my drink and I was taking a whole different trip of some kind as we soared over famous buildings. The skyscrapers were like nothing I’d seen in real life before and I couldn’t believe they’d been built to these gravity-defying heights.
“Incredible, this is just like being in an action adventure movie,” I told him, my eyes like saucers as I took the city in. The pilot laughed and coughed. “I’ve seen these buildings all my life in different movies, but to see the real thing from this vantage point here … they look truly remarkable. They’re so much bigger than I had expected, bigger than they look on a screen.”
Jamie laughed and the pilot suddenly swerved and headed along the coastline.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I’ve rented a house in Montauk for the holiday.” He glanced at me and pecked a kiss on my nose.
“Rented a house? Not your house?”
“This one is next to the ocean,” he replied by way of explanation for not taking me home.
“Thanksgiving? That’s like our harvest festival? I know it’s a holiday, but not really why.”
“Originally, the first settlers started it to give thanks for the bountiful harvest that got them through the winter. Since then, it’s been a tradition carried forward.”
“Right,” I replied. “We have the Lughnasadh, which is a Celtic festival, but it's not a holiday.”
“Thanksgiving’s a big deal here. It's almost like … a Christmas get together.”
We fell quiet as we continued to enjoy the view, and I marveled at how wealthy some of those people must have been to have been able to buy or build the incredible properties we flew over, then I wondered who they were.
“Who lives in these houses? Anyone famous?”
“Could be, but in some, probably no one … most will be occupied by home sitters or staff. Some of the ultra-rich just buy them so they can say they own a house out here or as an investment.”
“You have a jet, does that make you ultra-rich?”
Surprisingly, his jaw ticked, and I knew I’d offended him with my question. “My work brings me a high standard of living … I do very well, but I find talking about money and flashing wealth crude.”
“Says the man with the jet?” I prompted, giving him shit again. “How is that toy not crude?”
From the glare he gave me, I knew I’d struck a nerve. “My work makes it a necessity. It keeps me sane. That bird buys me precious time, takes me where I need to be, when I need to be there. That ‘Toy’ stops me from being subjected to constant heckling and gawping when I need some privacy. I can usually sleep between my scheduled appearances uninterrupted in it, which is a blessing.”
“But there’s no need to actually own one, is there?” I insisted.
“Could I do without it? Of course. It’s a luxury … I won’t deny that. However, by having it at my disposal it takes some of the stress out of what I do … like when I came to see you.” His eyes softened and he laced his fingers in mine. “That’s why being in Dublin was so amazing. I hadn’t been able to be myself for years until I spent those months with you.”
“Oh, so now the truth’s out, Jamie Fontaine. You only hooked up with me for my lowly status and anonymity in your world, and because I can pour a mean drink?”